Wu Yifei (3)

If it were only herself, Wu Yifei would not have let go of the butler this easily but the brats were with her. If they got into a fight with the Yuan family, they might run into trouble in the capital. Even though these brats were troublesome and extremely noisy, they were the young shoots of the Warriors of the Black Temple country. More importantly, they were from Red Batalyon - Ji Xinlu would beat her if she let his people get bullied.

It just...

"Young Chief. Me and Song Lan already got the snack and food." The expectant look in Fu Xian's eyes gave her no way to refute. With the strongest will power she had in her entire life, Yifei managed to maintain the smile on her face without letting it shred. Even so, her smile was still a little stiffened while handed over her token.

The bitter taste of losing money wasn't familiar to her, Wu Yifei was mentally shocked while calculating the amounts of silver she lost tonight.

Her moods were bad because of the snake earlier, now her heart bleeds knowing her money was decreasing in rapid speed.

Fu Bai took over some of the groceries from them, "Young Chief, now we can go to the White Jade. It's the right time for a wine auction."

"Right, we must get a jar of Ginger Blood for the commander and instructor."

Bao Ren's remark made her internally scream, Yifei was too slow and being half-dragged by the girls.

From the outside, it looked warm, inviting yet dignified. The plank was made of top-grade jadeite with intricate carvings.

As they entered the tavern through the double door, they were welcomed by aromas of roasted meats and cheerful singing. The bar was at the customers' left, there were a few couples of bartenders smiling while distributing those jars to the serving servant. The walls were all made by shelves, they were loaded with hundreds of jars labeled by some unidentified symbols and foreign languages.

It was as enchanting inside as it was on the outside. There was an open stage at the center of the tavern, now occupied by the band singing popular music. Stone beams support the upper floor and the lanterns attached to them. The second floor was undoubtedly a private room.

Passing traders and tourists seem to be the primary clientele here, which was a good sign for a businessman like herself. Several long tables facing the stage were occupied by separate groups of people, all enjoying themselves, but they kept to themselves.

The other, smaller tables are also occupied by people who were clearly having a good time. Even most of the stools at the bar were occupied, indicating the tavern's popularity.

The White Jade did live to its reputation.

This was the best decision she made tonight.

"Young Chief! This way!" Fu Bai's stature was enough to attract the group's attention, yet he was happily waving like a child. Inviting some unkind stare.

Living as the royalty she was, she never sat in the main hall. The table was relatively good, they were in the second row facing the stage.

The music stopped and the hall was quietened down, a woman in a blue dress with an accented white floral pattern took over the stage. Although half covered by a veil, the audience knew she was an attractive lady judging by her doe eyes.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Min and I'm your host for tonight's wine auction." The people were clapping and shouting in excitement while Yifei could sense a danger approaching. Auction meant one thing, bidding. Her thrifty self was internally screaming, steeled herself so as not to fall into these kids' puppy eyes.

"As many of you know, today's main item was the Ginger Blood. Regrettably, tonight's Ginger Blood was the last jar we have in stock and we don't know when our brewmaster will make it again."

Some gasped, while the other cursed. Most people use the previous price as the reference price. They had enough money but the problem was its availability. One jar meant only the highest bidder could take it home.

"Shit! My master wants this jar very much."

"My promotion also depends on this jar."

"The previous jar was sold for a hundred and three thousand gold, just how much opening price will they ask now?"

The angry and dissatisfied remarks have filled the hall, they had the same thought; may nobody had more money than them.

"To comfort our loyal customer, the owner will treat everyone inside this hall for a drink." A boisterous shout of thank you replaced the dissatisfaction before, the festivity finally came back. Two male servants brought an exquisite carved velvet box.

Min's slender finger opened the container, a black shiny looking jar with a red lid was bare for everyone to appreciate.

Yifei knew good stuff but her knowledge of wine wasn't much, so when the host invited them to the stage for a closer look she wasn't interested at all.

"Young Chief, can I have a closer look?"

"No," Yifei rebuked Fu Bai. She absolutely won't open her wallet anymore. It was better to give a flat rejection especially when she had no intention to buy that wine. "You go and buy those healthy and fruity or flowery wines. We will leave after this."

Fu Xin nodded and linked her arms with Song Lin, strode to the bar. There were only Bao Ren, Fu Bai, and Yifei at the table. Yifei wanted to be low key yet their appearance wasn't helping, the youths in black were tall and muscular while the recurve bow on her made her stand out.

The bidding started as soon as the appraisal was over, "Due to this special circumstance the opening price is two thousand gold."

There was some uproar but serious people with money didn't faze, it was within their expectation. From a businessman perspective, Yifei also thought that the opening price was reasonable. It was the last stock the tavern had and if the brewmaster decided not to make another jar then it could possibly be the one and only jar of Ginger Blood. It was worth it, to some extent.

"Two thousand and five hundred gold."

"Three thousand."

"Three thousand and five hundred."

"Young Chief, we got the wine." Song Lin handed her token back.

Fu Bai was exasperated, "What took you so long? The auction has begun."

"Ten thousand!" The shout from the second floor sent the crowd into a frenzy.

"Who was that?"

"It's a girl's voice. Does she have enough money though?"

"Such a good wine will be sold for a stinky girl, what a pity."

"Ten thousand from the lady at private room five. Do I hear eleven thousand?"

"Eleven thousand!"

"Thank you gentleman from private room number twelve." Min swept her eyes to the crowd, "Do we have a higher offer?"

The duckling eyes were dilated, they never knew the big player really serious. That was thousands of gold, not leaves!

Baobao scratched his head, flabbergasted. "This is too much for just a mere jar of wine."

Song LIn slapped the table excitedly, "You listen to me Baobao, this is not just a wine. This wine is a masterpiece, one of a kind wine. Ginger Blood was made by the mixture of Oriole Ginger from the deep Sacred Beast' Forest, Jinju Peanut from Buckwheat Kingdom's highland, the essence of Azure Nation's Scarlet Rose, and the Golden Powder of Salt Island. You tell me, how can this amazing wine be 'just a mere jar of wine'! This is an art!"

Fu Bai nodded in agreement, "I joined the military to serve the country and I never thought I would meet another bosom friend." He stood up and ceremoniously gave her a big fist salute, "Sister Song Lin, please receive my respect."

Song Lin generously accepted his salute. Bao Ren and Fu Xin just shook their head while Yifei rolled her eyes. They were too cute, Yifei had an impulse to smack them to the wall.

"To consolidate our good feeling, let this brother be the bidder for tonight." Before a certain someone got a chance to register his words, his voice resonated through the tavern. "Twenty thousand gold!"

A grave silent enveloped the tavern, most clientele in the hall looked at Fu Bai with weird accusing eyes.

"Are they serious? Twenty thousand of gold is not a small sum of money."

"Young friends, this is not someplace you can just joke around."

"This bidding is not a child play, show some respect, alright?"

Min frowned, she had met a lot of customers. Although the bidder was just a teenager but she knew better to never judge by the cover face, it was a businessman's basic code. "This young friend, if I may ask do you really have the amount of money you bidded?"

"No."

Fu Bai's answer made them dizzy and full of resentment, even Min's businesslike smile was a little bit cracked.

"I don't know White Jade is a casual place where country bumpkins can just waltz in."